Synopses & Reviews
While the influence of Alexander von Humboldt (1769and#150;1859) looms large over the natural sciences, his legacy reaches far beyond the field notebooks of naturalists. Von Humboldtand#8217;s 1799and#150;1804 research expedition to Central and South America with botanist Aimand#233; Bonpland not only set the course for the great scientific surveys of the nineteenth century, but also served as the raw material for his many volumesand#151;works of both scientific rigor and aesthetic beauty that inspired such essayists and artists as Emerson, Goethe, Thoreau, Poe, and Frederic Edwin Church.
Views of Nature, or Ansichten der Natur, was von Humboldtand#8217;s best-known and most influential workand#151;and his personal favorite. While the essays that comprise it are themselves remarkable as innovative, early pieces of nature writingand#151;they were cited by Thoreau as a model for his own workand#151;the bookand#8217;s extensive endnotes incorporate some of von Humboldtand#8217;s most beautiful prose and mature thinking on vegetation structure, its origins in climate patterns, and its implications for the arts. Written for both a literary and a scientific audience, Views of Nature was translated into English (twice), Spanish, and French in the nineteenth century, and it was read widely in Europe and the Americas. But in contrast to many of von Humboldtand#8217;s more technical works, Views of Nature has been unavailable in English for more than one hundred years. Largely neglected in the United States during the twentieth century, von Humboldtand#8217;s contributions to the humanities and the sciences are now undergoing a revival to which this new translation will be a critical contribution.
Review
and#8220;Long awaited by Humboldtians, this illuminating new edition of Views of Natureand#8212;offering not just vivid natural scenes (and#8216;viewsand#8217; in the most obvious sense) but also von Humboldtand#8217;s still-fresh views on the significance of nature and its studyand#8212;is a gift that transcends disciplines and even history.and#160;A book that was deeply relevant and constructively challenging in the age of empire has become even more necessary in the age of climate change. Today, thanks in part to the acutely sensitive translator and editors, von Humboldtand#8217;s finest one-volume work comes across as a perfect blend of art and science, a paean to interconnection that is both humbling and heartening.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Alexander von Humboldtand#8217;s wide-ranging Views of Nature is a masterpiece of nineteenth-century natural history, at once science and art. Mark W. Personand#8217;s stunning new translation makes the wonders of this classic accessible to the English-language world of the present.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Ever since his celebrated journey of exploration of the Americas, Alexander von Humboldt has been a defining figure of Western scientific culture. Today, his international reputation is enjoying a revival, especially in North America. Now the University of Chicago Press is adding to its list of Humboldtiana a new edition of von Humboldtand#8217;s most readable book, Views of Nature, skillfully translated from the original German and expertly introduced. It opens up to a twenty-first-century readership the magnificent panorama of tropical American landscapes, the aesthetic pleasure of which connotedand#8212;in von Humboldtand#8217;s viewand#8212;the underlying harmony of lawlike unity that pervades the cosmos.and#8221;
Review
andldquo;From the plains of Venezuela to volcanoes and waterfalls, von Humboldt combines observations with travel narratives and philosophical musings. Annotations really help provide a context to the essays; this work also includes an index, conversions for von Humboldtandrsquo;s various measurement units, an introduction, and preface. This excellent translation of one of von Humboldtandrsquo;s most important works should introduce this great naturalist to an entirely new audience.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Despite von Humboldtandrsquo;s tremendous influence on many of the worldandrsquo;s greatest writers and naturalists, including Goethe, Darwin, Emerson, and Thoreau, outside of specialist circles, this new translation has not received the attention it richly deserves. This is something I intend to do my part in helping to rectify at the earliest opportunity.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Alexander von Humboldtandrsquo;s Views of Nature was his best-known work in the 19th Century. Written for both a literary and scientific audience, it was Humboldtandrsquo;s personal favorite among his numerous volumes. It was translated into English (twice) and French in the mid-19th Century, and was read widely in Europe and the Americas, influencing artists, poets, essayists, novelists, and scientists alike. The English versions of Ansichten have been out of print since the late 19th Century, in contrast to many of Humboldtandrsquo;s more technical works (e.g., Cosmos, Personal Narrative, Essay on the Geography of Plants, Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain). Humboldtandrsquo;s contributions to the humanities and the sciences, largely neglected in the U.S. for the past century, are undergoing a revival and this book represents a critical contribution in this context. For example, the bookandrsquo;s extensive footnotes incorporate some of Humboldtandrsquo;s most mature thinking about vegetation structure, its origins in climate patterns, and its implications for the visual and written arts. The main essays are remarkable in their own right as influential and innovative works in the tradition of Anglo-American nature writing, and were cited by Thoreau as a model for his own work.
About the Author
Stephen T. Jackson is professor emeritus of botany and ecology at the University of Wyoming. He lives in Tucson, AZ.
Laura Dassow Walls is the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame. She lives in Granger, IN.Mark W. Person is associate academic professional lecturer in German in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and director of the language lab at the University of Wyoming. He lives in Laramie, WY.
Table of Contents
Editorsand#8217; PrefaceIntroduction: Reclaiming ConsilienceTranslatorand#8217;s NoteHumboldtand#8217;s
Ansichten der Natur Measurement Units
Views of Nature
Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Second and Third Editions
1.and#160;Concerning the Steppes and Deserts
2.and#160;Concerning the Waterfalls of the Orinoco near Atures and Maypures
3.and#160;The Nocturnal Wildlife of the Primeval Forest
4.and#160;Hypsometric Addenda
5.and#160;Ideas for a Physiognomy of Plants
6.and#160;Concerning the Structure and Action of Volcanoes in Various Regions of the Earth
7.and#160;The Life Force, or The Rhodian Genius
8.and#160;The Plateau of Cajamarca, the Old Residential City of the Inca Atahualpa; First Sight of the Pacific from the Ridge of the Andes Chain
Index